Intel to Universities: No Patents, Please, Just Open SourceWhat would you do if you were the university official in charge of company research partnerships and a Fortune 100 tech company offered to fund a research center at your university to the tune of $2.5 million dollars a year? If it were me, in these tough financial times, I’d say “great, tell me more,” visions of a nice press release dancing in my head.

But wait, there’s A Catch: the company has made it a condition that in order to receive the millions, your university must open source any resulting software and inventions that come out of this research funding. Yes, open source. Your university cannot stake claim to any patents. There will be no intellectual property clauses, no negotiations, no… nonsense.http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blo ... en-source/

The Kerala State Electricity Board Saves a Whopping Rs 8 Crore, Using FOSSKerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) switched to open source solutions only a few years back, and now, not only manages the accounting and billing information of users across Kerala, but has made impressive savings, year-on-year, using FOSS.The KSEB was introduced to open source with the billing software Oruma in 2006, and it has not looked back ever since. Its implementation was soon followed by Saras, an accounting software used in expenditure accounting. As a result, KSEB has managed to save Rs 7-8 crore.http://www.linuxforu.com/views/case-stu ... sing-foss/

The Koha Saga: A gift that keeps givingThe world of libraries is not one we normally associate with passion and high drama. And yet that is precisely what the long-running saga of Koha, the open source library management system, has been filled with.Lessons from the library

This shows that projects must never allow other entities to own such copyrights if they want to avoid these problems. Either the copyrights should remain with the individual contributors, or they should be assigned to an independent foundation. In the case of Koha, the natural candidate would be the Horowhenua Library Trust, and it's not clear why that wasn't done from the start.http://www.h-online.com/open/features/T ... 86231.html

US killer spy drone controls switch to LinuxFlying assassins upgraded after Windows virus outbreakThe control of US military spy drones appears to have shifted from Windows to Linux following an embarrassing malware infection.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/12 ... ux_switch/

Why government needs open sourceThe tough economic climate has forced a radical rethink on public sector IT procurement, with decision-makers now on the look-out for more efficient, cost-effective solutions.